Hi guys! Hope your holidays were good. Sorry I haven't been around. For all of you waiting for an AFKOL update, no worries. I'm almost done with the next chapter. Here's a new fic that I had to get down. Hope you guys like it! Please R&R. I love hearing what ya'll have to say...

Disclaimer: I'm not Stephanie. Stop making me have to remind myself.

Prologue

I came to very slowly. As I peered up from my position on the cold stone floor, I took in the sight of Rachel slumped over directly in front of me. To my immediate left, Emily seemed half alert, clinging desperately to a squalling Claire. I sucked in a deep breath through my nose, only to cough painfully as my lungs were assaulted by the dank room's thick, musty air. Aside from a lone lamp residing in one of the room's corners, there was no light, and the light the lamp was emitting was nothing if not dim. What appeared to be one-way mirrors were mounted in each of the four walls, leading me to believe that we were basically in a box. I felt like a caged mouse, and wondered briefly if our captors would be experimenting on us as well.

My mind wandered to the time, and the date, and the fact that I had no idea exactly how long we'd been here.

"Kim?" Emily was looking at me, obviously confused, and almost in what appeared to be a trance-like state.

"Yeah, Em. It's me. It's Kim. Are you okay?"

"I…I think so." I listened as she made shushing noises at Claire, but to no avail. My eyes drifted back to Rachel as I sat up, leaning against the hard wall for support. She looked awful. I was well aware that out of the four of us, Rachel would be the one to put up the hardest fight. Emily would've been too concerned about Claire, and I had already known that this would happen, and that there was nothing that could be done to avoid it. But Rachel was, well, Rachel. Ray had always been temperamental. She was Paul's imprint, after all. It's not like she could be anything but bullheaded. Her left eye was swollen, and she had bruises on her wrists from the manacles restraining her arms. She looked unconscious, but the steady rise and fall of her chest gave me some relief in the knowledge that at least she was alive.

I closed my eyes, a sudden wave of exhaustion slamming into me. My throat stung with every breath that I took, but I tried to tell myself that it could be worse, and I opened my eyes narrowly to catch another glimpse at Ray. I heard no more whimpering from Claire, and I deduced that she must have fallen asleep. I turned my head toward Emily once again, hoping that she was aware enough to talk. Seeing her eyes darting back and forth around the room, I angled my body towards her, and called out her name. She looked up at me, and the fear in her heart was evident on her face.

"I'm scared, Kim. I…what are we going to do? What do they want with us? Why are we here? Where are we?" She was becoming frantic, and I was surprised that she was the one becoming hysterical, but I knew that without the previous information I had acquired from my grandmother, I would be, too.

"I don't know, Em. I honestly don't know. But we're okay. And we're together. That has to count for something, right? No worries. We'll make it out of here just fine." This seemed to appease her a bit, and I felt extremely guilty that I could not be honest with her and fully erase her fears. She had no idea what I was or that I knew this was coming. There was only one person who did, and she was dead. Dead and gone. But I refused to think about any of that now. I focused what strength I had on making sure the other three were in good condition, or in as good a condition that was possible for the circumstances. "Is Claire okay?"

"Yeah. She seems fine at the moment. She's just scared like the rest of us. At least she's in better physical condition than we are. If I could just keep her quiet then we'll be in good shape."

"Did you notice the mirrors?" I said, as quietly as I possibly could. "I think they may be watching us." I knew for a fact they were.

She sat up, crossing her legs and placing Claire's head on her thigh as she looked around the room, quickly taking in the surroundings. "Yeah. That's probably the only thing we can be sure of." I noticed her breathing had calmed down a bit, a sign that the initial shock she'd experienced was wearing off. "Who do you think they are?"

"I don't know." This was definitely a lie. I knew exactly who they were. And they were probably the only group of people who would want anything with the four of us anyway. "But what I do know is that the reason we're here is definitely obvious. At least Nessie's out of the country." Not for long. Alice would have the Cullens here very soon. Of that, I was also certain.

"I suppose. I'm glad she isn't in this predicament, but it would definitely be helpful to have her…talents…here, I suppose." Oh, if she only knew. I fought the urge to divulge my secret right then and there, but I knew that the only thing I had on my side other than secrecy was my element of surprise, and I couldn't risk that, no matter how much I wanted to.

"What do you think we should do?" I asked. I had to make her seem like she was the one in charge of us so I could draw any suspicions away from myself.

"I guess all we can do is wait. That and be prepared for whatever methods they use to get what they want from us." She shuddered at the thought of the "methods" they had in store for us.

As soon as the words left her mouth, a door we had failed to notice opened up directly to Rachel's right. A hooded figure glided swiftly into the room, followed by what appeared to be two children. "Hello, ladies." One of the children gave Rachel's leg a swift kick, and she woke with a start, moaning in pain.

The man lowered the hood of his cloak. I was a bit taken aback as I peered into his eyes and saw no malice there. He seemed…curious…as he glanced around the room at all of us. "It is likely that you are wondering why you have been brought here. All will be revealed in time, but first please allow me to introduce myself." He was being far too cordial for someone who had captured four young girls, one of whom was only a toddler.

"My name is Aro. I wanted to be the first person to welcome you to Alaska."

This was going to get interesting.